Technological Hegemony

The progress of the ion propulsion project made Luo Jia very happy. After personally testing the performance, he set off for Weigu Island, while Cao Principle went directly north to Inner Mongolia, where he met Bu Mobei, the person in charge of the company's No. 2 project, to further improve the ion propulsion project. Thrusters, practical application in the Starship project.

Shua~

When the plane landed on Weigu Island, the heat wave was raging, and Luo Jia felt that he was about to be ignited. He unbuttoned his shirt and panted heavily.

Since Weigu Island is an overseas leased land and not the land of China, there is no air bus system, so Luo Jia had to transfer to a jet plane in Sanya.

As the saying goes, it is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality. There are two completely different transportation systems on the earth now. It's not that there is no way, he doesn't want to go abroad at all now.

Whether you call him lazy or lack of romanticism, Luo Jia feels uncomfortable when he goes abroad, the transportation is inconvenient, and he has to get change in cash when he buys things, holding a handful of dirty banknotes in his hand. Luo Jia felt as if he had returned to the primitive society, the age of bartering.

"You're getting more and more delicate now." An Ran came forward with a smile on his face wearing a Panama hat. Seeing Luo Jia's helpless expression, he couldn't help but tease him.

Luo Jia rolled his eyes at him, then raised his hand to look at the temperature displayed on the watch, "The temperature on the ground is close to 40 degrees, and the aliens can't bear it, and big data also supports me."

"If you are afraid of heat, you say you are afraid of heat. What does it have to do with big data?" An Ran muttered, and handed Luo Jia a Panama hat. Although this thing has a foreign name, it is an authentic Guangzhou product. The hat has a wide brim, which provides sun protection and ventilation.

Huaxia's in-depth research on fluid mechanics has penetrated all aspects. This hat is an improved version optimized with Star Industry software. The airflow will generate microcirculation inside the hat to take away excess heat.

Luo Jia smiled slightly, "You don't know about this. The Academy of Social Sciences recently conducted a large-scale survey and found that since the popularization of Xingchen buses, Chinese people have become less and less willing to go abroad and travel to Europe and America. Even if they really want to travel, most people choose places that are relatively close to each other. Because of the rapid advancement of East Asian integration and similar cultures, Neon and South Korea are very popular among Chinese people, followed by Southeast Asian countries.”

"Big data shows that now not only can I not stand the bad traffic and hate traveling abroad, but people all over the country are becoming more and more picky and prefer to stay in a developed and convenient country for vacation."

An Ran said: "Isn't this exactly your goal? Vigorously develop domestic tourism, so that everyone in the province will go out. Nowadays, domestic travel is not only convenient, but also cheap. The service is a group of robots, dedicated and cute."

"ask me to say,

This is very good. In the past, we used to beg for nothing and go to other people's places to travel, not to mention spending money, but also being looked down upon by others. How aggrieved, it's okay now, please don't go. "

The two of them had already entered the terminal building while they were talking. The air conditioner in the terminal building was fully turned on, which made people feel comfortable. In addition to the fatigue of the journey, Luo Jia decided to drink a glass of juice before going to the base.

When they came to the cafe on the first floor, Luo Jia ordered iced coconut juice, and An Ran ordered passion fruit. The two found a corner and chatted about the changes in the past two years.

Technology changes the world, the road to the stars and the sea, these topics are what Luo Jia and An Ran are most interested in. As for the fact that Chinese people don't like to travel to Thailand now, Thai girls are hurt, etc., these are actually just their pastimes after dinner.

"There is one problem that we must pay attention to." An Ran suddenly changed the subject, and said very seriously: "It is already November, and the temperature on Weigu Island is still unbearably hot, while the temperature in cold areas is terribly low. , The fires in Australia are still raging, volcanoes are still erupting everywhere, earthquakes are becoming more and more frequent, all the data are telling us that Mother Earth is going crazy again."

"Yes." Luo Jia couldn't help sighing, "The horror of nature lies in its unpredictability. Some people say that the earth is getting warmer, but at the same time, some scientists predict that the earth will enter a cold ice age. In the eyes of geologists, , frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions seem to carry hints of intensified plate movement."

"All pre-research seems to make sense, but no one can make a truly accurate judgment. Everyone is just guessing, including us, and we don't know what the future will be. Compared with the opponent of nature, North America and the West can only be regarded as pediatrics. Woolen cloth."

An Ran spread her arms and made a helpless look, "Humanity's strength is still very small in the face of nature. Maybe you are right. This is not a question of whether we want to change nature, but a question of whether we can change nature. , will perish. All the creatures that ruled the earth before humans, such as dinosaurs, have a common feature, that is, they are all dead.”

Luo Jia and An Ran chatted like this, and they were all about topics related to nature or the fate of human beings. After drinking their drinks, they drove to Base No. 1.

Countless thick cables connect the earth with space, and their foundation is in the highest mountain on Weigu Island. The mountain has already been hollowed out, and the inside is where the No. 1 base is located.

The military, the authorities, and the team of Xingchen Technology jointly operate this mysterious underground base. So far, it has never been opened to anyone. After all, the space elevator project is really too important. It is said that it opened the world. Not too much.

If you have ever been on a train, you will have an understanding of how a space elevator works. The cables are made of graphene nanotubes and carbon nanotubes. They are light and tough, just like rails. Their only mission is to move the earth Tethered to the No. 0 space station, it is the self-elevating space elevator and the high-power ultrasonic motor inside the elevator that actually perform the transportation task.

The elevator has its own power and keeps climbing along the track. It takes 12 hours for the fast track to reach the No. 0 space station, and 72 hours for the slow track. A train, the only difference is that the train moves forward and the space elevator moves upward.

"Well, it's quite comfortable." Luo Jia sat on the large seat of the Passenger Express, patted it hard, and sighed: "I really hope that I can sit on this thing earlier, and go to our space station to see."

An Ran expressed serious agreement. In fact, they even dreamed of going up to see it.

However, they can't go, because space is a restricted area for humans, if Luo Jia and An Ran go to the synchronous orbit station, it will definitely not help the robot engineering team, but will cause them trouble.

After all, robots don’t need oxygen, and they don’t need to eat, shower, and go to the toilet. The No. 0 space station is currently under construction, and everything is based on the highest construction speed. There is no water, no oxygen, no roast duck and beer, and no anti-radiation coating. The environment is very harsh, and only robots who are not afraid of anything can survive there.

This is like building a house. Before the roof is capped, the building is obviously not suitable for living. However, if the building is being renovated while people live in it, the efficiency is too low.

After the building is completed, the decoration and plumbing will enter the site. After the decoration and plumbing are completed, the refrigerator is powered on, and the bedding is put on the bed before humans can move in. This is a necessary process.

So to what extent is the No. 0 space station built now?

If we take the building as an example, within three days, the No. 0 space station will be capped and all the engineering construction will be completed.

Luo Jia and An Ran came to Weigu Island. Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, there will be more people from the national team and the company coming, all to celebrate the topping out of Space Station Zero.

After the top is capped, there are still 45 days of renovation and trial operation. On January 1 next year, the first batch of space residents will enter the space station. Counting from now, it will be 48 days later, and the zero space station will open to receive passengers.

"There's nothing wrong here, let's check the freight elevator." An Ran said.

So Luo Jia went with him to the large freight elevators. There were two small high-speed elevators. In addition to their high speed, the capacity of the small elevators was very limited no matter whether they carried people or loaded goods. The real main force in the plan, Or these Big Macs.

The freight elevator is responsible for transporting water and food. In the future, the starship module will be transported into the space dock for assembly. If the interstellar mining goes well, the elevator will also be responsible for transporting the precious ore in space back to Earth.

Anyway, this space elevator is the bridge connecting human beings to the universe. It may not be the first step for human beings to reach the sea of ​​stars, but it is definitely the most important step.

When Musk was still desperately releasing rockets into the sky, Xingchen Technology had already completed the elimination of rockets as a species. The space base located in Jiuquan, China, will mainly undertake research and education in the future, and take students to review history and miss the past. What, no more rocket launches.

From the wine produced in Yantai, to the canned hairtail in Zhoushan, to the snail noodles in Guangxi, Luo Jia looked at the freight elevator that was about to take off, and really felt that the space age was getting closer and closer. Stationed, prepare enough food and fresh water.

In addition, he is also deeply moved by the taste of straight men. Taking snail noodles to the space station to eat is definitely not what ordinary people can think of. Fortunately, it is not durian...

According to the consistent tradition of Xingchen Technology, in addition to food, there are also a lot of weird things. An Ran stared at a 4.5-meter-high model of Iron Man, which was specially requested by the first batch of settled teams. Iron Man One of the mascots for straight men.

"What do you think?" An Ran asked Luo Jia.

"Don't think too much, we will make it real after we complete the miniaturization of nuclear fusion." Luo Jia said quite confidently.

An Ran was slightly taken aback, and nodded slightly, turning science fiction into reality, the good days of straight men of steel may really be coming, their ambitions are so great that the earth can no longer accommodate them.

Shua~

Seeing the freight elevator getting smaller and smaller at an astonishing speed, and finally disappearing into the blue sky above his head, Luo Jia couldn't help but sigh with emotion, the toilets have been sent up, how can it be so far away from the day when the space station is handed over.

rumbling~

Just when Luo Jia was thinking about the future, he suddenly felt a little shaking under his feet, and the duration was very short, only a few seconds.

"It seems to be shaking, can't it be an earthquake?" An Ran muttered to the side.